3 killed, 10 wounded in Chicago shootings

Three men have been shot to death on the West Side since mid-afternoon Wednesday, including one who a witness said was shot in a high-rise workout room, police said.

In addition to those killed, at least 10 other people have been wounded in shootings in Chicago since midmorning Wednesday, according to police.

About 7:05 p.m., a 45-year-old man was shot multiple times in the 500 block of West Kinzie Street in the Fulton River District on the Near West Side, police said. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead there.

A person of interest in the shooting turned himself in at police headquarters at about 3:30 a.m. Thursday, according to police.

Earlier, about 4:30 p.m., a 31-year-old man was shot to death in the 3600 block of West Division Street in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, said Officer Thomas Sweeney, a police spokesman. At least two attackers entered a business and fired shots before fleeing, leaving the man with multiple gunshot wounds.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene. The Cook County medical examiner's office identified the man as Tommie L. Pledge, 31, of the 5200 block of West Congress Parkway in the Austin neighborhood. He man died in the store slumped face-down against a counter wearing a white jacket. Police closed off the area in front of the store.

Neighbors gathered on the corner of Lawndale Avenue and Division Street. At one point, a man ran to the scene and ducked under police tape before police pushed him back, asking him to let them do their jobs.

Earlier, a man was shot to death outside on a commercial block in the Austin neighborhood, police said. The 22-year-old man was shot around 1:55 p.m. in the 300 block of North Central Avenue and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

According to police, the man was walking on the block when someone approached him and shot him multiple times. He was identified as Natyia K. Bowen, 22, of the 9100 block of South Yates Boulevard in the Calumet Heights neighborhood.

The homicide happened not long before nearby schools let out, and the man was killed on a city Safe Passage route, so workers in fluorescent vests stood back watching the scene with a few dozen other curious onlookers. He's the second man killed at this intersection this year.

Police closed Central in both directions, and when it came time to load the body into a squadrol, they positioned cars around the body so people would have a hard time seeing.

Central just south of the Green Line, where the shooting took place, is lined for about a block with stores -- the Shoe Shine King, in front of which the victim fell -- a couple grocery stores and a clothing store.

The crowd occasionally jeered police, who didn't respond. A couple separated from the crowd to mourn alone in a nearby parking lot.

A witness talks about the fatal shooting at a high-rise gym in the 500 block of West Kinzie Street on March 2, 2016. (Tony Briscoe / Chicago Tribune)

A witness talks about the fatal shooting at a high-rise gym in the 500 block of West Kinzie Street on March 2, 2016. (Tony Briscoe / Chicago Tribune)

Most recently, at 2:10 a.m., a 21-year-old man was shot in Cragin, police said. He was in the 5400 block of West Fullerton Avenue when he was shot in the torso and arm. He was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in serious condition.

At about 11:50 p.m., a 23-year-old man was wounded in a shooting about in Englewood on the South Side, said Officer Hector Alfaro, a Chicago police spokesman.

The man was standing on the sidewalk in the 1900 block of West Marquette Road when a male attacker walked up to him and fired shots, Alfaro said.

The man was shot in the upper left leg. His friends took him to Holy Cross Hospital, and he was later transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital, where his condition stabilized, Alfaro said.

Early Thursday, police officers blocked off Marquette Road and Wolcott Avenue with yellow crime tape. Inside the crime scene, about 24 shell casings lay scattered on the sidewalk and the road. There were more shell casings than evidence markers available; one was marked with an empty juice bottle, and others with slips of paper getting wet from the snow.

About 11:45 p.m., a 26-year-old man was shot while he was driving in the Morgan Park neighborhood on the Far South Side, Alfaro said.

The man was in the driver’s seat of a silver Toyota stopped at a stoplight in the 11400 block of South Ashland Avenue when a red-colored sedan pulled alongside and someone inside it fired shots, Alfaro said.

The man was shot in the back and crashed his car into a fence next to Interstate 57 on Ashland Avenue. The car leaned and almost fell into an embankment.

The man was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in critical condition, Alfaro said.

At 9:50 p.m., a 19-year-old woman was shot in Roseland, police said, citing preliminary information. She was in the 11000 block of South Normal Avenue when she was shot in the back. She was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in critical condition.

At 3:09 p.m., a 27-year-old man was shot on the 4100 block of West North Avenue, police said. The man was shot in the head, but his condition had stabilized at Mount Sinai Hospital, police said. The man is a documented gang member, police said.

In the Woodlawn neighborhood just after 2 p.m., a man and woman were wounded in a shooting in the 6400 block of South Eggleston Avenue, police said.

The woman, 38, was shot in the leg and abdomen, and went to St. Bernard Hospital and Healthcare Center before being transferred to Stroger Hospital, where her condition had stabilized. The man, 20, went to St. Bernard Hospital, where his condition was stabilized as he was treated for a gunshot wound to the shoulder.

A 28-year-old man, Nicholas Robinson, was shot to death in the same block on Feb. 22.

Earlier, about 12:30 p.m., a 21-year-old man was shot in the 9400 block of South Stony Island Avenue, police said. He was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound to the buttocks.

In the morning, two men were wounded about the same time a few blocks apart in what police said appear to be unrelated shootings.

A 30-year-old man showed up at West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park about 10:40 a.m. with a gunshot wound to his thigh. He told police he was shot near Harrison Street and Cicero Avenue.

About the same time, a 28-year-old showed up at Mount Sinai Hospital with a gunshot wound to the hand. He told police he was shot in the 4300 block of West Van Buren Street.